twenty thirteen spreads across the world we will show you the most spectacular celebrations and look ahead to the potential challenges that face this in the new year. we also look back on a year filled with conflict and curt's protest and rest and hear from our correspondents about it i wouldn't could have turned out differently. plus it is a fiscal cliff hanger as it looks as last minute deal seems likely to fend off and you get a tax hike in the u.s. with the scene now set for another showdown on capitol hill. and all and takes over as the head of the european union but its massive debt leaves it in a weak position just as the broad call for strong leadership.

hello and happy new year you're watching live from moscow with me. as the new year continues to roll out across the world let's take a quick look at some of the most spectacular celebrations that have happened so far new zealand was among the first to usher in twenty thirty crowds packed b. harbor in all claim to enjoy the display at the city's sky tower while almost two million people turned out at the key celebration in australia sydney skyline erupting with the now standard jaw dropping fireworks at midnight from harbor bridge midnight later moved on to asia this is hong kong which really built up the tension with a countdown then lit up the sky from both land and sea. europe

has also welcomed in the new year with a major fireworks display at the brandenburg gate in berlin becoming one of the world's largest open air parties and a dazzling display also splashed skies above the london eye in the east take capital and across the atlantic over a million spectators descended on new york by conic times square to celebrate the event the predictions for drop. in new year in russia fishley kicked off when the clock on the spot sky tower in moscow rang out twelve times the iconic red square was filled with crowds as fireworks lit the skies above the kremlin russians it has been a year of major political challenges and the rise of vocal public opinion r.t. his piece lavelle has taken a fine to the russian politics over the years and my colleagues have an iron and i need to know if he sees things panning act. what is the future of russia's

political opposition as you see the new year compared to two thousand and twelve i would say it's kind of bleak but not hopeless ok we didn't come up with any new ideas new organization new faces a new pussy riot is that we are of the opposition or it's pretty dreadful situation for the russian people and political development in general here is there was political change in this country in a positive change. does make up the opposition as we head into the it's a very interesting question because i have gone to most of the major demonstrations and there were people there of goodwill in my opinion but then there were fascists there ok who were communists there and they were these are people there ok and it's your right to demonstrate i actually liked the idea but they didn't accomplish anything but i could see they had no organization no unifying ideas except for i don't like but a mere putin which is not a very it's not a political agenda there were a few protests which i was out as well where it did seem like that was the method

if you wanted to gain traction on this opposition movement do you see people coming out and take the train lost a lot of its novelty effect right now ok because political change takes years in years in years and it has to be local this is what happens in political changes with countries that were what they were carrying at one time it takes a long time. and that is happening very very strongly there's some people who want to really fast and they don't want to do it through elections they want power because they want power because they believe they deserve it and what about the fact that we're not going to see any presidential elections of course that all led up to being elected a third term this protest and now they're kind of when i'm down now oh i would say to people i mean if you want to continue to protest in but you know join a political party there are forty four of them now you have a choice ok get involved see one of the things i saw with a lot of the protesters is that they want someone else to do all the hard work ok they want to go out and wave a flag and say give out

a slogan we don't want to do the hard nitty gritty work of political change and that's what they need to do i would be looking at the next parliamentary election for change will know we certainly will be going to be easy to come up as one of the great programs in store but i wish you all the very best to cross talk of the new year on out thank you. well twenty thirteen will be a year of change for iran as the current president steps time with no a successor in sight later in the private eye and we look at the upcoming election will take foreign eyes off iran's nuclear program also on the way the last two years have seen a fish struggle and death and many in syria and few feel twenty thirteen will bring long awaited peace to the whole told stay. america breathed a sigh of relief going into the new year as well mike is in washington strike a deal on the edge of the fiscal cliff a i would have seen taxes skyrocket for the me every us well but it's not all good news the daily is reportedly only temporary

setting the stage for another showdown in a few months talks that some say go any smoother nobody is talking about the true issue to the fact that the country in the western world is bankrupt basically this is a classic case of kicking the can down the road they didn't want to address it before the election so they said we'll extend the debt and we'll just wait till next year and they thought it would go fight a bit further but the deficit ran up so much faster than anticipated we'll take care of it tomorrow and that's all the politicians in the u.s. are anywhere to they're not proactive they're not problem solvers they don't care about you and all they care about is their own little power and you know let the rest of the world be damped merican doesn't understand why his country by the world economy is going down the drain all they know is class warfare which is what. the administration wants that the banks are getting rich and they're getting poorer

they don't understand why any of this is happening so for the average american they're going to pay some more taxes but the average american is in fear of losing his job and losing everything that he's worked this whole life for and he doesn't have a clue why. well our economic expert max kaiser also gave us his forecast some how the financial winds will blow in twenty thirty the fiscal cliff is just more of fear from bankers and politicians trying to distract from the underlying root. that is a bunch of bankers who are manipulating the system. destroying the economy. more growing more theater it doesn't really focus on the true underlying problems that we're going to see more of this going forward in two thousand and thirteen i think the tension from the mob with your pitch forks and their torches were coming after

these people they want to just delay that day of reckoning for many months if they can but that day of reckoning. it's. not too happy about it the e.u. is also celebrating new year at r.t. dot com we have but can i write just once well for the union and hear what the coming year have in store for you are. two americas main political event of the presidential election thrilling race with the runners neck and neck all the way to the finish that's what it looked like with a snatching victory from mitt romney at the very last moment but that competition overshadowed some third party candidates who were left struggling to get their voice heard. she can now reflects on the race to the top. there were cheers of relief here when he won i would say because the alternative was thought to be so much worse many voted out of fear that romney could win for them he was another george w.

bush so whether americans have fallen out of love with obama the two thousand and eight euphoria was gone that's for sure back then there were these crowds you know in the streets all across the country shedding tears of joy so bad in their view where the eight years of bush presidency obama was good as the savior and then he went and saved the banks saved the auto industry something he took a special pride in during the election campaign but across the country millions of people remained out of work and are still out of work so this time president obama ran under the banner it could have been so much worse as you imagine it was not a banner for national euphoria it was more like you have no choice but to choose me kind of better something that shocked me while i was covering the election here it was it was the second debate between obama and romney i'm sure you remember you remember that as a presidential nominee from the green party jule styne was arrested right outside the venue where the debate was taking place she was protesting for exclusion from

the debate and nobody like no news channel period mentioned her arrest none and i was switching channels for hours to see if anything was said about that and it was nothing i can imagine what the reaction would be here in the states if a presidential candidate is the mother of the country was arrested in the media there wouldn't even mention it but apparently it happens in the u.s. no big deal presidential candidates get arrested all the time right well there was some irony and yes anyway during the election campaign the mainstream media has been focused on nothing else and no one else with these two candidates and we are t.v. as you remember of course saw the is saw an opportunity there to show what others don't and we've posted the debate. well there was one thing that shook the u.s. so badly that it made president obama put the country's treasured second amendment under some heavy fire the sandy hook primary school shooting that left twenty children and six stuff dead so the president is for

a ban on some firearms ati's thom hartmann and whether the new year might bring some change in america's weapons policy my guess is what we're going to see is cosmetic change we're going to see probably the or the assault weapons ban come back they'll be a fair number of loopholes in it but you know the u.s. is not going to end up going the way that's what's a longer israel have done or many most european countries have done australia when john howard was president one thousand nine hundred eight when there was a mass slaughter and then they said ok that's it we're going to buy back all the guns and it's not going to happen here there's just too much money being made with guns insane supreme court or at least five right wing crazies out of nine on the supreme court decided that even though the second amendment says in order to maintain a well regulated militia necessary for the security of a free state the right to you know you people have the right to own guns that's half of it the other half of it is that the supreme court also said that corporations interest groups lobbying groups billionaires can throw unlimited

amounts of money in politicians. freedom of speech but not of the speaker we report on the world's most wanted list. what he managed to achieve while staying under house arrest and in hiding that is coming up and if you mean. wealthy british. markets. come to. find out what's really happening to the global economy with mike stronger for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines. you

know sometimes you see a story and it seems so you think you understand it and then something else you hear or see some other part of it and realize everything you. are welcome to the big picture. and i welcome back wars uprisings crises and world wide protests my twenty twelve a turbulent year with not all that much positive news but what if it had overturned differently. explores the headlines that could have begun.

twenty twelve was certainly full of disappointing headlines hope fueled by the arab spring turned into the turmoil of the arab autumn the war in syria claimed countless lives and the fiscal crisis all the european union torn apart at its very seams and the problems facing our world today certainly don't offer themselves up to an easy fix what if things had turned out differently what if opportunities were actually the pawn instead of missed well here's our look at the twenty twelve headlines that could have been. diplomacy succeeds in syria ending bloody conflict. instead this was the image of syria the world saw increasingly violent clashes between government forces and the opposition had claimed more than forty thousand lives efforts to negotiate a diplomatic solution fall flat as divisions ripped apart both the country and the international community hundreds of thousands of refugees have fled to neighboring

states where many have found conditions to be dismal meanwhile syria's war is threatening to spill over its borders as tensions escalate within and in the region . but told me to triumph the sanctions slashed new good except it's going to end gun fire the u.s. really needs to restrict foreign. mideast peace to israel league two state park has promised on. yet this was their reality israel's assault on palestinian militants in gaza israel's anti-missile shield repelled the most attacks on its territory but a strike claimed the lives of more than one hundred sixty palestinians many of them civilians despite harsh condemnation from many in the international community the war and israel's subsequent decision to construct three thousand new settlements effectively slammed the door shut to any prospects of peace ghost people power moment came. step aside and let

a democracy in. get lost get my notorious kuantan of my prison permanently shot. euro zone cuts the cuts and lifts austerity. but the news of austerity only tightened as deep public sector cuts brought thousands of angry demonstrators to the streets of greece spain italy and portugal. the worst economic crisis of a generation has battered the european union's very foundations exacerbating tensions between member states with some regions now desperately wanting out i grew up in a europe that was divided from east to west going to europe that is divided from old to self never at any point in the history of this union has there been more discord of rank that we covered. corporate cash for the campaign coffers as part of the us political clean up. nearly here for u.k. british quit european union. we can leaks founder julian the solyndra pointed un

free speech and. instead a song remains a political refugee at ecuador's london embassy where he's been granted asylum he continues to fight extradition to sweden over alleged sex crimes charges that he says are politically motivated and tied to his work in leaking international government secrets. the power of people speaking up and resisting together terrifies corrupt democratic power so much so that only people here in the west and the enemy of governments an enemy to be watched and enemy to be can for all and to be impoverished true democracy is not the white house true democracy is not. true democracy is the resistance of people with the truth against flies from top to right here in london. every day ordinary people

teach us that democracy is free speech and dissent. from heretics to hero american whistleblower bradley manning finally free. droning on memo nations agree to end iraq of remote controlled war. egypt's arab spring sees democracy defeat hardline islam as. the reality on the ground was anything but egyptian president mohamed morsi is fouled like power grab unleashed fury and frenzied street battles and a fast track to constitutional overhaul referendum left a bitter opposition eager for change for them two thousand and twelve saw the arab spring transformed into an egyptian nightmare had the revolution to get rid of a tyrant dictator. in the order to that we made elections a revolution and elections to choose someone to the present us it turned out that this guy is also a tyrant himself but he's had lines may have been the stuff of imagination but that

sea of twenty thirteen can bring any of them to life with the coffin of r.t. moscow well despite hopes for a brighter future some experts expressed that that in the case of syria any major breakthroughs will allow people that were preferred in twenty thirty. it's very sad to say to everybody all over the world that the top geopolitical tragedy of two thousand and thirteen is going to be the top geopolitical tragedy of two thousand and eleven the rape of syria the only possibility would be that the opposition. in a syrian way this sides not to listen to the saudis the turks the qataris the americans the brits and the french and they sit down with the assad government and they will work out a transitional government or at least a transitional period leading to free and fair elections is this going to happen

not likely. there's been no love lost between palestinians and israelis in the aftermath of yet another war between the two today television plans new settlements in occupied palestinian land while hamas and fatah to rearm and promise no quarter . reports on what it bodes for the future to look at what's happening on the ground israel continues to announce settlement construction and the palestinians continue to say that for as long as these announcements continue they will be no resumption of peace talks it wasn't so long ago that the palestinians were worried that they would stay to the united nations but you can't attack the fact that we still have palestinian fact. who always seems to be at each other's throats in less than a month the israelis will go to the polls and by all predictions they will reelect the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu for another term of office and it doesn't seem as if he has an olive branch so certainly the prognosis for any kind of peace moves is far back in two thousand and eight two thousand and nine we had

a conflict that was twenty two days long by comparison this time around it was eight days four years ago the casualty count was more than a thousand people who were killed most of them palestinians this time around the casualty count was was a lot lower and again four years ago there was a ground offensive this time around there wasn't a ground operation in june twenty thirty in iran will be holding a presidential election mahmoud ahmadinejad won't be running having served the maximum two terms aside from that there's no certainty as to who will take over at a tense time when iran's nuclear program continues to be a thorn in some western nations sides journalist afshin rattansi who has often shared his thoughts with us doesn't think the new leader will bend to foreign will i think whoever we people of iran elect policy foreign policy terms things are going to be much the same terminology of western corporate media or

a bizarre image that islamic extremists of all sorts of different more like because the point is iran is the strangers of forging a very different type of developing nation economy because it has all the oil it has all those resources and it's not going to suddenly start changing things the way the i.m.f. or the way washington wants it to be. now u.s. war on terror sometimes goes just too far on a website a british olympic hero held by america's customs on spruce especially he's a terrorist all that just because he happened to be born in the wrong country also at r.t. don't become the latest bond movie skyfall goes into history as it reaches a staggering one billion dollar box office mark for the first time in a franchise history. in europe people are making their new year wishes and plenty of them have their fingers crossed that things will be

a little less tight in twenty thirteen investment advisor patrick young says greece still doesn't have a functioning government system though that will be able to pull the country from the deep recession it now faces what's happened so far has been so when engine cuts on the masses and we really haven't managed to make the world move to state impact upon the whole nation itself greece is still fundamentally in a huge problematic situation in dollars not remotely how a functioning government system that fiscally is going to manage to organize itself in any which way possible to manage to get through the continuing swinge and cuts that need to take list and of course then we're looking at the whole issue of the demonstrators are the governments listening well the truth is the governments can't afford to listen because what we're seeing within the european union even if the euro has survived miraculously for twelve months government has run out of money

the european union's western socialist model of spending huge amounts of money borrowing even greater amounts of money and hoping to pay everything manyara or indeed thirty years from mine yonder simply does not work. well only three years ago wall and was bankrupt and receiving a bailout to rescue which failed economy but despite this the very same country has just taken the six month presidency of the european council and as artie's or smith reports the celtic tiger has some hard graft ahead. it's all changed by the e.u. presidency as takes over this six month rotating challenge on the first of january not the ovi a choice islands one of the guys in peg's the countries that have the nice stable economies in europe and sure enough arlen's the first country to take hold in the presidency of the twenty seven nation bloc while being propped up by i.m.f.

money so for the next six months the e.u. and its systemic problems will be presided over by one of its weakest and most problematic members so what specific challenges does to face in europe over the six months of its presidency first the european economy is slowing flaws and the crisis is nowhere near over secondly it must preside over leaders actually agreeing to an e.u. budget for the years two thousand and fourteen to two thousand and twenty something they've spectacularly failed to do so far and thirdly there is a problem coming from right here in london increasing british opposition to brussels and the threats to european cohesion that uses the irish government expects the e.u. presidency to coast in excess of seventy million euros money the country can ill afford and what will it be spent on twenty four million on catering accommodation

and transport for example and another twenty million extra government. son spent half the year in two thousand and twelve under house arrest and the other half holed up in the ecuadorian embassy in london but he still managed to produce a t.v. series talking to the key news makers shunned by the mainstream media our correspondent in london sarah ferguson has been following his ups and downs. a lot of you say wiki leaks and julian started more in the year old t. the most media organizations have done in decades we've really had a front seat view of everything that's been going on we had him at the beginning of the year fighting that extradition to sweden we saw his the pill rejected we then saw that dramatic twist in the trial when he went into the i could do it embassy seeking asylum learning to live in the sciences certainly the british media we see a lot of the bowler who quite viciously especially during the course of this year with all these huge events happening surrounding julian assange

a lot of people would put that down payment simply to jealousy. back me up max kaiser's latest reporting as always he's pulling no punches at the shattuck bank. on the march under god these men and women are walking one of the longest incredibly the loneliest road in the world they reenacting march into exile made by thousands and czarist russia. if i was his three hundred years ago i may have disappeared my local lord i may have deserted from the army or a variety of other crimes the result was the same like my fellow prisoners around me i've got a long and very cold walk ahead into exile in siberia yet it took them years to get

there summers and winters entire years a lot of people died on the way this group in the western siberian region of almost discovered the living on the only surviving stretch of the original nine thousand kilometers of the siberian exiles track has had no modern changes made to it he is going to discover that he's descended from some of these exiles and decided to build a museum telling the story he and his re-enact is now receiving to us from all over the world to show them what it was like when the story was going to stop it's scary to put the shackles on of course but it's interesting if we don't remember our history we will have no future if we want to say it's a monument to one of the risk russia's cruelest chapters. the city served as the capital of anticommunist white russian leader admiral culture shock in the civil war from one thousand nine hundred to nine hundred nineteen lost in residence he lives here there's a study of the man like the maintenance of this building has remained

a taboo right up until the present day. we still receive hate mail. saying that he hanged a lot of people and was famous for severe punishment it's all true but it was at a time of civil war both sides were monstrously cruel it is sadly the theme of cruelty which links so much of history to the rest of rushers particularly of exile where they were not for a criminal. i am x. prize or welcome to the kaiser report and welcome to twenty third team you know more than one hundred thirty years ago the allied jesse james when robbing a train you to tell the passengers and i quote were.